Endurance in Race {life} Running

I was going through photos of all the races I have participated in over the past 2 years.

This was my VERY FIRST 10km race in Summer of 2008....

I seriously thought I was going to die.

The temperature that day was in the high 30's.

I had NEVER run 10km before this, and I don't think I had eaten properly the day(s) before.

(No..I KNOW I didn't.)

This race was done completely unprepared.

But I did it.

Time:

1:09:36

~~~~

Fast forward 2 years later.

Another 10km race...and I think my outlook was a bit different.

(Of course- it wasn't 36 degrees out;)

(you may have to enlarge to see the silly grin:)

And I did it.

Time: 55:21

~~~~

There are things I have started and wished I hadn't.

There are things I am involved in now and wish desperately I could quit.

But I keep looking back to this running thing.

And to a thing called Perseverance.

No one said it would be easy.

And why should it be?

The things you want  most in life are usually the hardest (and most work) to attain.

Quit now- there's not even a chance of getting there.

Persevere....and even if you never quite make it- at least you aren't bored:)

Endure....and one day it's yours.

14 minutes off my 10km run isn't an accomplishment that is of great eternal importance.

But it did teach me to take the other parts of my life and treat it in the same manner.

I don't want to give up.

{There are still some other things I want to knock some time off of.}

~~~

"....let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

In jest....kind of

SMARTIE PANTS

~~~~~~

Okay.

I've had it.

If one more person states that "Your kids get their smarts from their dad"....I'm going to yell.

Loudly.

Really??

 Just because he's an engineer...passed everything with honors (and never had to study).....can figure out any problem by looking at it for a mere minute.....

(sigh)

Okay. I get it. Their dad is Smart.

Intelligent.

Even brilliant...(in his own way;)

But do kids REALLY inherit the Smart gene?

Don't you think SMART can just be LEARNED?

(I AM NOT saying my kids are geniuses!!!! 

We have struggled in many areas and sometimes I wonder Just how long a certain concept should take to grasp...)

But everything seems to come easy for the most part.

I have a daughter who can write incredibly well and passes her spelling tests most often- first time around.

One son who is so creative I have to go to him for ideas on plans I'm making.....

Another son catches on to everything the minute he is introduced to a new concept...

And one other son who is BEYOND me when it comes to Algebra.

                        (Or any type of math for that matter!)

(Did I ever mention it took me 6 semesters of math to attain my Math 30 credits?:(

So my question is:

Are  kids born with Smart Cells

OR....

 are they acquired/learned over time?

(Because (note).... I AM their teacher)

:)

and

I do hope I'm contributing to more than 

just the athletic side of things;)

..........

Oh well.

Regardless of inherited or acquired

...I am happy for them.

I just wish a BIT of it had been passed on to me......

:)

Necessary Baggage?

I'm starting to wonder about my running.
Not so much the running part- but what it is I don before I run~
What I drag with me when I do.

I of course have the basics....runners- running pants-breathable running shirts and windbreaker.
But then there are all the other things I top it off with.

Gone are my carefree running days when all I did was grab the well-worn runners off the shelf and take off with a wave...not knowing (or caring) how long I'd be gone or how far I would make it that run.
Those were the innocent days.

But now!

Now....

(And add head lamp for the night, 

my phone when I'm going a distance...)

Is all this necessary?
Really?


Not only does it feel I am running with extra weight- the time it takes for me to get ready to run is a workout all on its own.





Makes me think about the other stuff.
The stuff I drag with me day to day.
Failures, disappointments, hurts, ......dragging it on.
And on.
Feeling a tad heavier than I was really made to feel.

Why do we (I) do this?
Does it make you feel you'll handle the run of life even better if you drag it along?


Yeah...there is the necessaries you need and of course...what would a run be at times without music to pump your feet a bit faster.
But Why?
Do I need a watch beeping out my times/pace/distance/rate- every 10 minutes?


On the other hand.....
I Do like knowing my times.
I do appreciate water every few km's.
And of course I should wear my reflecting bands so that driver coming down the gravel road at breakneck speed will maybe have a heads up that I'm out there.
~~~~~
I think when it comes down to it....it doesn't matter what you're carrying...it's how you wear it.
And make adjustments here and there so it becomes PART of the running experience.
All  that baggage can make you into the person you're supposed to be if you only use it properly...(and once in awhile take it all off-get back to the basics- and remember who you are and what you're supposed to be doing without it!)


It doesn't have to be ME!
It's just assisting me into becoming the runner I eventually dream of being.
Training and assisting tools.


Because hey.... the past is always going to be part of you.
It's what you do with it that matters.
~~~


Think I want to run without my stuff today.
I need to remember why it is I run.
Then maybe tomorrow.....my "necessary" baggage will once again take up a spot- and I'll turn around and use it to make me someone I should be growing up to be.

~~~

"If you can find a path with no obstacles, 

it probably doesn't lead anywhere."

~Frank A. Clark

"Be not angry that you cannot make others 

as you wish them to be,

since you cannot make yourself

as you wish to be."

                          ~Thomas a'Kempis

Woke up to.....

And that's all I have to say about That!

(except that...isn't it only October?)

The Lighter Side~

We all lead double lives.
I'm sure of it.

There are the lives we want people to see ~
and quite simply the lives we don't.
It all varies in degree and levels, but unless you wear your heart on your sleeve and bare all for no one in particular (yet everyone) to see, we have at least 2 sides to us.

My "blog life" comes across as pretty happy.
Surface.
And I like it that way.
I want to share the positive and look on the bright side.
It's nice to escape that which surrounds you on a daily basis- especially the not so pretty.
Not only that....but my other life can get pretty darn negative.
Ugly.
And truthfully....no one would want to come near.

I don't do this to cover anything up...I just enjoy the moments while I post to imagine what life would be like without the ugly.
It's the part of me that longs for tranquil moments and happy places.....where candy apples and smiling kids and majestic mountains loom and stay- regardless of the day.

As for the other part of my life...it's a continual journey.
A battle of sorts....including not so nice people (myself included), moments of embarrassment, not so nice words, and struggles of self and relationships.

I like an escape once in awhile...hence this blog.

So if you're ever curious about my other life...or feel I'm not truthful in my posting....just ask.
Or better yet....my book will be published soon and you will find it all over the place:
 The "How to Battle Habits" section, "The "How to Get Along" section, The Horror section......you get the idea.
(Just want to be honest that my life isn't all roses....)

On that note, this past week was full of battle.
But as this is my escape place...here are the Lighter Moments of this past Week:

~Moments of Smile~
When I got excited over the fact that my Christmas Cactus was blooming in October...I could hear my 8 year old in the other room stating that, "It sounds like that plants' timer is off."

The fact that COMBINING is FINALLY Over!!! Instead of 18 hour days, my husband will now be back to the normal 8-10 a day. (It is STRANGE seeing him in the house....all of us are scared to blink, thinking he may disappear again...) AND- I now have help in the taxi-ing department;)

~Moments of Disappointment~

Finding out that the 200km bike ride I was going to register for and take part in next June, has a mandatory $2,575 entrance fee. (Granted- the $2,500 is going to charity, but if you're a dollar short you can't ride.)

And...finding out that these had all been eaten and I had no ingredients in the house to make more.

~Moments of Terror~

Getting an unforeseen bill in the mail.

(Don't have a picture of this one... too scary.)

Being at a stop light in the city - looking over and seeing a man pounding his steering wheel, yelling, cursing, throwing his hamburger, a pack of smokes, and anything else he could grab- out the window, hanging out the side of his car shaking his fists....{and I was just hoping he didn't have a gun in his vehicle.}

Never did find out where his anger was being directed...unless he just didn't like his hamburger....

A perfect demonstration of Road Rage.

~Moments of  feeling Blessed~

Finding this note on my pillow when I got home from work late at night:

Opening the back door and being handed this:

There.

The Lighter Side of the week.

Much nicer than the other side.

~

Wishing you all a Wonderful New Week.....

on both sides!

Shut it Off

So my husband ran over his cell phone yesterday.
With a very large and very full grain truck.
He didn't find it until nightfall.....went searching for it with a flashlight and found it face down, glowing, and making twisted and strange music.
It was squished.
Cracked.
Useless.

I am not happy- for the fact that we now have to put money out for another piece of technology we seem not to be able to function with out.

But it was a good day for him.
He stated it was really nice to get his work done...and not once did he have to answer a phone, talk to a soul, or run and do things that weren't on his list to do.
(I'm sure he'd get to a point where it would become necessary once again...but for today- he had a holiday.)

I remember when as a teen...I never left the house without a quarter.
Pay phones were on most corners, and if one wasn't handy when you needed it....Tough luck.
You ran out of gas- you either caught a ride or walked.

Of course now we don't have such worries.
Unless you run over your phone......
OR....
go here:

My last post took me into these photos and it made me miss my mountains.
I never got my hike in this year...but have made it a point to  backpack into the wilderness for a few days- at least once every summer the last couple of years.

This is one place I have found where my phone is rendered useless.
(Well...I DID use it for these pictures:).
But of course there is no signal as you are miles from civilization. One of the main reasons I go.
To get away.
To breath.
To not have a phone in my hand or a computer at my fingers.

The first while I'm out there it's unnerving.

What if I should need something?

Who would I call in an emergency?...there are bears and cougars and a ton of steep rock.

And then...you look around you.

You actually stop...and hear Nothing.

No one is near you (besides your hiking companions).

And the beauty takes your breath away.

And you don't NEED anything but the pack on your back and your feet to carry you and your eyes and heart to take it all in.

You store this all up in your mind and soul,

so that when you DO have to return to civilization....

you have enough stored to help you make it until the next trek into beauty. 

When you can once again leave your "technologically advanced" life behind.

And your phone doesn't work.

~~~

Of course...it could all be very simple to fix without taking the trip 

or running over your phone with a grain truck.

I could simply just shut it off.

A favorite quote.....

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. Thomas Jefferson

~

(picture taken from my favorite place in the world (so far),

Yoho National Park, B.C. Canada)

My Hats

Hats.

We all wear them.

Some keep the same one almost all day, and then put a different one on when they return home.

Some wear several...and sometimes all at once.

{If your hat-less...it probably means you live alone curled up in bed 24/7 AND have no

 contact with another soul your entire life. }

I like most of my hats.

I have a teacher hat, 

and a counsellor hat,

the cook hat, 

cleaning (helmet), 

and even a cheering hat for football and hockey games.

Sometimes I have to pull out my referee hat...but lately not as often.

Then there are MY hats...which I couldn't quite survive without. 

They're ALL mine...and I only put them on for me;

my swim cap, 

running hat, 

reading hat, 

bike helmet,

and walking alone hat.

I even have a daydreaming hat....

(although I haven't had time to wear that much lately!)

THEN, there are the hats......

well....

let's just say I put them on- 

but they don't always fit too well.

Like todays' hats.

There were several.

I didn't mind the cooking, teaching, and even the chauffeur hat.

BUT- 

when it came time for the Horse 4-H hat where I had to drive this:

(I only hit a gate today:(

...and the  Beef 4H hat for these guys:

(well...and I guess for my oldest 3 kids)

...I don't feel quite right.

They just aren't me.

Oh I try to make them fit.

And I so try NOT to complain when I have to wear them.

{ But I'm sorry....I do like it so very much when I can take those ones off. 

If only for a day or 2.}

I sometimes wish all hats fit me....and I could feel comfortable in every one.

{Although sometimes....don't you think a person can have one too many hats?}

Don't you ever wish you could shelve a few...especially the ones that aren't fitting and you wonder if they ever will?

{Are you sporting a hat or two you really wish you could put on a shelf...or pass along to someone else?}

I guess wearing odd shaped fits can be a good thing in a way.

They must help us grow....(hopefully not causing just a larger head!)

And IF I kept the same hat on day after day I may get a tad bored.

I wouldn't want to wear the same style day in and out either.

~~~

Regardless...after days like today of wearing several....

(and feeling a tad bit crazy!)

......my favorite time of day 

are the times almost about 

now.

When the only hat I have to wear....

is my nightcap:)

~~~~